New London - About an hour before the start of the fourth Whalie Awards, Adam Wujtewicz, a musician and co-founder of the Wailing City music blog, looked out on the shivering crowds stepping on the red carpet entrance to the Hygienic Art Park.

To put it mildly, the weather Saturday night was chilly, or more to the point, cold.

"Well, this is New England and this is New London, so maybe we have to suffer a little bit," Wujtewicz said. "But we'll work with it."

Seasoned with New London's blue collar spirit, the Whalies - the annual celebration of the music scene that celebrates itself and has become the city's party of the year - carried on.

The cold and intermittent rain caused about a 45-minute delay to the start of the show, as volunteers erected tents over the red carpet and sound equipment.

But the delay served to build anticipation, and most of the mix of nominees and fans arrived late anyway.

Tim Donnel, who plays in the Weird Beards, kept warm by wearing a pink furry hat with ears protruding out of it and a garbage bag, presumably to guard against rain.

"(The Whalies) are fun," Donnel said. "And the right kind of fun."

Nicki Bonanno, of New London, was at her first Whalies, and before the show, she was curious about it.

"There's been a lot of 'like' and 'dislike' with the Whalies," she said. "I wanted to see for myself."

This year, the number of categories increased from 34 last year to 38.

As in previous years, critics from outside New London County decided half of the awards, while others were voted on by local music fans on WailingCity.com.

According to Wailing City's Meghan Killimade, a record number of people voted in this year's contest.

Local singer-songwriter Daphne Lee Martin took home the top critics prize, winning Album of the Year for her January release "Moxie."

Martin, normally known for her jazzy take on alt-country, jumped genres to also win the critics choice for best pop performance for "Belly."

Other multiple critics choice winners included the new Mystic quintet Slander, who won Song of the Year for their post-punk romp "Magnets," as well as Breakthrough Artist of the Year.

In perhaps the award show's most poignant moment, Gone for Good won Best Rock Performance for "Marvelous Liar," the last song the trio worked on with late drummer Josh Lecce, who died in an automobile accident in 2009.

Last year's big critics winners, the piano and live painting duo Pocket Vinyl, this year emerged as fan favorites, as they earned two people's choice awards for Best Indie Pop and Best Video for "I Hear Colors."

The ceremony included live performances by Empty Vessels, Nancy Parent, Street People and others.